Keitha notes:

<< Just my 2 cents here but I don't think there's a RN/IBCLC conspiracy out
there.
  Seems to me we have enough to do without quibbling among ourselves over
 initials.  From where I sit, promoting breastfeeding is quite literally a
 battle every day and we can use all the troops--working together, please! >>

I don't think there is a conspiracy either.  I'm not sure of the percentage
of ILCA members that are RNs, but I suspect it is probably around 75%.  I do
know that when IBLCE did their tally for the government for role delineation,
85% of IBCLCs held degrees in a health profession (RN, MD, RD, etc) and the
vast majority were RNs.

I also know that Kathy Swift, Secretary, spent literal hours on the phone
trying to find people to run for office.  In order to have a ballot that is
(a) more than one person running for each position and (b) representative of
all the professions that LCs are comprised of, we MUST have people willing to
run for the office.  And that means that non-RNs must be willing to step in.
 I have been in the (unfortunate) position of having to try to find people
willing to run for an office in ILCA.  Back when I was president & then past
president, (and it was a much happier time in ILCA then), we STILL had a
great deal of difficulty getting people to run for office.  We put notices in
the Globe.  We put notices in the JHL.  We combed the roster for names of
people that anyone on the board knew or knew of that we thought might be
appropriate, and called them out of the clear blue.  We begged, we
pleaded....  And believe me, no one could beg or plead like I did.  I LOVED
being President!  Being on the ILCA board changed my life, personally and
professionally.  It truly was one of the most exciting things I have ever
done.  I hated giving it up -- I hated leaving the board.  Being
president-elect when Jeanine Klaus was President was a fabulous learning
experience.  Being Past President when Linda Kutner was President was, in a
word, FUN.  And with all that, I still couldn't get people to commit to being
on the board.  People felt they had other, more important things to do.  Yes,
it was a lot of work & a lot of time.  But I have dear friends that I would
never have had otherwise, and it was worth it.  So, before anyone complains
about the ballot, the lack of people or the plethora of RNs, please search
your soul and ask yourself if YOU are willing to run the next time.  If you
aren't, please don't complain.

Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC
ILCA President, 1990-1992